


Burger King

by alli12345



Series: She-Ra Modern AU [1]
Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Retail, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, F/F, Falling In Love, Fast Food, Friends to Lovers, Getting Together, Hurt/Comfort, Mild Attempted Sexual Assault, Mildly Dubious Consent, Mutual Pining, Pining, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-09
Updated: 2020-06-25
Packaged: 2021-03-04 00:20:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 18,550
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24624616
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/alli12345/pseuds/alli12345
Summary: Catra works at Burger King, but a certain blonde named Adora comes in every day to make customer service a whole new level of hell.
Relationships: Adora & Catra (She-Ra), Adora/Catra (She-Ra)
Series: She-Ra Modern AU [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1790896
Comments: 151
Kudos: 849





	1. Start

‘I am being HARASSED.’ Catra groans, sprawling on her side of the register. ‘I’m begging you, just kill me.’   
  


It was another slow afternoon at Burger King, or as she likes to call it the absolute shithole she only got minimum wage for. Catra could be out there living her life as a youthful teenager, instead she was serving chicken nuggets to her worst enemy- Adora. It didn’t help that said blonde was currently sitting in the corner, laughing obnoxiously with her friends she had replaced her with. 

‘Aw I’m sure Adora isn’t here to harass you, she probably just likes our food! I do cook these to perfection you know.’ Scorpia says conversationally from her spot in the kitchen as she flame broils another patty.

Catra scoffs, her eyes trained on her most hated customer.   
‘There has to be some sort of law against coming to one’s workplace every day! No one likes Burger King that much! _NOBODY!’_

Suddenly she sees Adora sit up from her chair, which makes a horrific screeching noise on their unmopped floor. 

  
‘Oh god she’s coming.’ Catra whispers, trying to duck into the kitchen. ‘Scorpia! Hide me!’  
Her friend shoves her back to the counter, as Adora approaches. ‘You’re the only one on this shift who is allowed to use the register.’

‘Do not make me serve her I swear to god-’

‘Hi Catra.’ Adora smiles, and Catra’s eyes narrow. 

  
‘Whatchu want, princess?’ She sneers, avoiding her piercing blue eyes that reminded her of still lakes. Or swirling oceans. Or the fluffy white cloud bath bombs from Lush. Wait, no.

‘Mmm, can I get a strawberry sundae?’ Adora chirps, looking above her at the menu. 

‘Can’t.’ Catra drawls, looking at her black painted nails. ‘The machine’s broken.’  
  


Adora’s face falls in disappointment, and Catra cheers inwardly at her small victory until Scorpia’s voice cuts through their conversation.

‘That’s not true, the soft serve machine is fine.’ Her traitor friend says, pulling down on the lever and swirling a perfect sundae into the cup. She adds the syrup before handing it to Adora.

‘That’ll be $1.50.’

‘Thanks Scorpia.’ Adora smiles, rummaging through her purse to collect her coins. Catra rolls her eyes. 

‘What a cheap ass. Little rich girl can only afford a dollar-fifty ice cream? No wonder we’re running out of business.’   
  


Adora frowns at this. ‘Did you want a tip or something?’ 

‘What? FUCK no. I don’t take charity.’ Catra scoffs, snatching the coins from her old childhood-friend-to-enemies palm. She swiftly jabs in the total and throws the coins into the drawer. They’re forced into silence as the receipt slowly prints, and she tries to ignore the way Adora is staring at her. 

Suddenly Adora leans in close, and she can hear her murmur close to her ear.

‘I’ll see you at student council.’

Catra flushes at the proximity, every hair standing on end. Before she can stutter out an insult, Adora rips the receipt from the machine and is sauntering back to Bow and Glimmer. 

The brown haired girl deflates, her nails scratching on the old countertop. All that mental damage, for $1.50? Life was not fair.   
  


Adora had the perfect grades, the perfect family and friends, the most cushy and royal lifestyle in her old private school. 

It filled Catra with sick pleasure that the private school had lost their prestige to embezzled money, and now had to be _government funded._ However in consequence of this, they had decided to merge the public and private school so they could sell off the land to build skyrises or something. 

This meant Catra lost her position of School Captain to Adora after a fierce election, and had been demoted to Vice Captain. Not to mention no matter how hard Catra tried, she could never beat her in the school rankings. She couldn’t work to support herself _and_ study 6 hours a day, like rich privileged Adora. 

So now here she was, forced to interact with the one person she could’ve gone her whole life without seeing on a daily basis. 

Ever since Adora had discovered Catra had been working at Burger King during a late night drive-thru run, her ex best friend had made it her life’s mission to make her life hell. 

Of course she had done her best to make the experience awful to drive her away. Catra knew Adora _hated_ pickles, so she would threaten Kyle to slice up an entire pickle’s worth in the blonde’s Whopper before giving it to her with a sweet smile. She was filled with glee watching Adora picking them out one by one in disgust.   
  


This doesn’t stop Adora from coming though. Not even when they had made it into some sort of competition to see how many pickles could physically be crammed into a bun. Or even when she had put every single condiment including the salt and pepper into an unholy liquid concoction and served it in a cola cup. Not even when she gave Adora food poisoning when they got too carried away trying to stack as many patties as they could to recreate Sky Burger. 

No matter what she did, the girl never went away. Even though she had so easily disappeared from her life when she had needed her the most. But she didn’t need Adora, she had gotten this job herself, she had gotten a roof over her head with her own power. She had worked so hard to become independent from Shadow Weaver, and no matter what, Adora will not jeopardize it. 

\--

‘I’m doing, what exactly?’ 

Catra stares dumbly at her manager, a sinking feeling dawning on her. 

‘Adora ordered a birthday party at Burger King.’ Lonnie drawls, ignoring the look of complete horror on Catra’s face.

‘No, you can’t do this to me! Roster me for any other day. I cannot psychologically take this.’ She begs. 

‘Sorry dude, the deposit has already been paid for. We’re short staffed, and it seems like Kyle has gotten fryer oil burns from your last burger experiment with Adora.’ Lonnie whaps Catra with the birthday catering pamphlet.   
  


‘Stupid Kyle.’ Catra hisses, clenching it in her fist. Curse this damn place that can only afford to hire teenagers. 

‘Anyway, just set up the tables and decorations after school on Thursday. Should be a good day for business, with Adora and her posse being rich kids and all.’

‘Can I at least get time and a half?’ 

‘Are you gonna be paying Kyle’s medical bill?’

Catra pouts. ‘Not my fault you guys don’t provide gloves. This place is an OSHA violation haven.’ 

**_WE do the PLANNING, YOU have the FUN!_** The bold font emblazoned over the small child’s smiling face mocks her from the pamphlet. Catra clenches it in her fist. 

‘Also why the fuck did she book a kid’s birthday party package when she is like 17, and _not_ 6 years old?!’ 

Lonnie rolls her eyes. ‘Do you still want a job or not? Just read the rest of the form, counting on you to organize it.’ 

Catra squints at the crumpled paper in her hand. 

**GOLD PARTY PACKAGE**

-Themed birthday cards!

-Party bags!

-Birthday gift for the celebrant!

-Jumbo birthday cake!

-Pinata!

-Special birthday songs!

-Dedicated hostess!  
  


Catra can feel her soul physically leave her body. This was gonna be a long week.  
  


-

It was terrible.

Adora had handed these obnoxious Burger King birthday invitations to all her friends, so now she had all these RSVP’s to the worst birthday of all of human history. In between working shifts until midnight, dealing with Adora at student council and not eating, Catra was on edge. 

‘No, you can not write ‘Die Adora Die’ on her cake.’ Scorpia chides, slapping Catra’s hands away to pipe the icing. 

‘It’s what she deserves.’ Catra seethes. If she couldn’t eat it, she could at least ruin it, right? 

‘They’ll be here soon, so try to take that dying grimace off your face.’ Scorpia replies, and Catra rolls her eyes before adding the finishing touches to the cake. 

Suddenly the door opens, interrupting her decorating. The once quiet establishment was now full of loud chatter as their classmates piled in one by one. All of Adora’s old private school friends were here, all unironically celebrating their school captain’s children’s birthday party at the worst fast food restaurant in their state. 

  
She plasters her fakest customer service smile she can muster. Dignity at the door. 

‘Hi, you must be here for the Birthday Girl’s party.’ Catra says, approaching the group. _Just treat it like you don’t know them._

‘Aw you don’t have to be so formal with us, Vice Captain.’ Glimmer teases, and Catra almost snaps from her facade. Almost.

‘Let me show you to your table.’ Catra grits out. 

She had chosen the ugliest poop brown balloons she could find, and had deliberately made the HAPPY BIRTHDAY banner lopsided on the wall.  
  


‘Thanks Catra!’ Adora grins, bouncing past her to admire the decorations. 

Catra imagines Adora’s face on the pinata and smashing it into a million pieces. She forces herself to take a deep breath. It was just the one shift, and she really needed this job. Plus after the party was over, she could probably nab some leftovers for her trouble.   
  


All of the girls (plus Bow and Seahawk) sit around the table, and Catra marches over with the laminated menus. 

‘Ooh, we all get hats!’ Perfuma says, placing her Burger King cardboard crown on top of her head.

Frosta squints at the menu. ‘I’ve never eaten fast food before. Looks disgusting.’

‘I think it’s fine! Adora wanted to eat here.’ Glimmer says in a sugarly sweet tone that just came off as passive aggressive. ‘Even though I had suggested my penthouse by the ocean and we go here nearly every day.’

‘I much rather would be at the ocean beach house thank you very much.’ Mermista retorts, swatting Sea Hawk off her shoulder.

 _Yeah me too,_ Catra thinks bitterly. She stomps off with their orders, cursing them inwardly the entire way to the kitchen.  
  


Adora’s friends start playing with the so-called ‘entertainment’ they had haphazardly set up. 

It was ridiculous, seeing grown teenagers lining up to try to smack the shit out of a glittery pinata. They squabble over who gets to hit it first, Catra feeling very much like a glorified babysitter to her most hated enemies.   
  


After a while, she sees Scorpia emerge from the kitchen. _‘Happy Birthday to you,_ ’ Scorpia sings with Adora’s birthday cake in her arms. _‘Happy Birthday to you~’  
  
_

The others join in on the song, Catra only mouthing the words in silent rebellion. The cake is emblazoned with a crude doodle of Adora’s face with HAPPY BIRTHDAY written on her enormous forehead. 

‘Oh my gosh, I love it!’ Adora’s sky blue eyes light up, and she’s practically _sparkling._ Catra huffs, she wasn’t supposed to like it. Didn’t she see the drawing was supposed to make fun of her five-head? 

Adora catches Catra’s eye, beaming. ‘Did you draw this for me?’ 

‘She did!’ Scorpia tattles, and her enemy’s smile increased tenfold. Catra can feel her cheeks grow warm. _Dammit._

‘Whatever.’ Catra bites out, unable to meet her gaze.   
  


Luckily no one else seemed to be paying attention to the weird atmosphere between them, as they were split between eyeing the cake and pinata wrestling.  
‘Get over here Sea Hawk, we can do the pinata later!’ Mermista chastises, watching Bow spin her blindfolded boyfriend. 

‘Let me just get one good hit in, and I’ll join you!’ He crows, swinging the bat in random directions as Bow ducks the blows, laughing. 

  
Just for anything to do, Catra takes it upon herself as hostess to snatch up the knife and start cutting. She cuts into the cake to start portioning out the slices, but as the knife touches the bottom Glimmer lets out a shriek. 

‘What?’ Catra deadpans.

‘If you cut to the bottom of the cake, you have to kiss the person closest to you!’ Glimmer says, a demonic look in her eye. Adora elbows her, embarrassed. 

‘Excuse me?’ Catra’s never heard of this tradition. Though to be fair, she had not been to many parties in her lifetime. 

‘Oh, that’s right!’ Perfuma claps her hands together. ‘Adora’s closest right? Go ahead Catra!’

To her horror, Glimmer starts pushing Catra towards the blonde. She digs her heels into the linoleum, only to find that she was sliding from the newly mopped floors.   
  


‘Kiss! Kiss! Kiss!’ The girls start chanting, like they were her friends and that she wasn’t their damn server.

‘What the hell- fuck no, let _go_ of me!’ Catra finally snaps, wrenching herself from Glimmer’s grip. 

The momentum sends her stumbling into Sea Hawk, who was still attempting to hit the pinata. 

‘Ack!’ He squawks. 

The bat goes flying straight out his hand and into their double doors. There’s a huge crash, and everybody winces at the noise. 

The glass pane shatters, and so does Catra’s sanity. She was _so_ fired. 

Sea Hawk lifts the blindfold. 

‘Did I get it?’ 

\---

It was nearly closing time, and Catra was still sweeping up bits of glass from the floor. This had been one of the worst days of her life, and she had been beaten and homeless before. To make it worse, Adora was still grovelling when she should’ve gone hours ago like the rest of them. 

‘I am so sorry Catra, I’ll pay for everything, I’ll take full responsibility so you don’t get fired-’ 

‘Stop it.’ She was too tired to even argue with Adora like she usually did, wishing Adora would just go away already so she could grovel over the phone to her regional manager without an audience. Catra always pretended to hate her job, but she couldn’t afford to lose it. She could barely make rent with her Burger King wage. 

‘Please, let me help clean. It was my fault anyway.’

There was hardly any money left over to feed herself most days, that’s why she was skinny as a rake as opposed to the toned, buff, well fed Adora. She had only been functioning on a few nuggets that Scorpia snuck her yesterday. Did Catra still have those food coupons? How long until the bank charged overdraft fees?   
  


‘Catra are you listening-’ 

‘I said _stop it!_ ’ Catra snaps. 

Adora has the audacity to look stunned.   
  


‘Why do you insist on harassing me at work everyday? Is it fun? Forcing me to play servant to you rich girls, to sing and dance for you? You already beat me in everything at school, you’re already School Captain, you have all the money and a loving family you need, so can you stop rubbing your privilege in my face just for one second so I can _THINK?’  
  
_

‘I...I just…I’m sorry.’ Adora starts and aborts a few sentences. Catra can’t even stand to look at her face. 

‘This party at your work. It was the only way to get you to celebrate my birthday with me.’ 

‘.....’

‘Um, I-’  
  


‘Whatever.’ Catra retorts, trying and failing to pick up the last shards with her too long fingernails. She hisses when the glass nicks her finger, cutting into skin. Drops of blood fall to the floor.

‘Are you okay?!’ Adora gasps, rushing to her side. Catra slaps her hand away, she needed to go find the cleaning supplies. Blood was a biohazard, there was some protocol for it but she was having trouble remembering.   
  


She goes to stand up, but the fatigue rushes to her head and her legs give in underneath her. Instead of smacking her head against the floor, she feels herself land on something soft instead. 

Adora hooks her around the waist, gently placing her into the booth. She grabs a napkin from the dispenser and wraps it around Catra’s hand. She can feel Adora’s warm hand squeezing her own. 

  
‘I’m just applying pressure to the cut.’ Adora says quietly. 

Catra just closes her eyes. It’s well past midnight and she should be locking up the store, but she can’t bring herself to move. 

  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the kissing the closest person when the knife hits the bottom is an australian tradition :) also the glass door smashing actually happened irl but it was a chair


	2. Swimming

As promised, Adora had taken care of everything even though she never asked her to. Adora and Glimmer’s family as well as Sea Hawk’s parents had paid off the damage like it was nothing. In fact a sparkling new window with the Burger King logo appeared installed at her next shift, looking so pristine it almost seemed out of place in the dingy establishment. Rich people were scary. 

Catra had expected the usual beatdown lecture from her regional manager, but to her surprise nothing came. Adora took 100% of the blame and omitted Catra from the narrative, and as much as she hated to admit it she was grateful. No way she could have ever afforded to replace the door when she couldn’t even afford a whole meal at Burger King. Not with the $3 she had currently in her account.   
  
Right now however, she was pretending to be asleep in the back of the student council room until all of Adora’s annoying prefects left. They were currently having a meeting about the annual swimming preparations. 

Usually Catra would be more outspoken to represent the students of her old school, but today she didn't want to speak to anyone. She hadn't heard a lick of an apology from the girls, who had just thrown money at the problem until it went away like it never existed. They probably expected her to thank them, and no way were they getting a thank you for something they caused.   
  
They finished up their meeting, chatting about whether or not they should be allowed to wear bikinis or something as they shuffled out. 

‘Is it really okay to just let Vice Captain sleep through the entire meeting?’ Mermista complains, and Catra tenses in annoyance. 

‘Shh, don’t wake her. I don’t see you sweeping up glass until midnight from when your boyfriend smashed her workplace door.’ Adora chides, and Catra feels a little bit smug. 

‘...Fair point.’   
  


The door clicks shut, and silence settles over the classroom. Catra can hear Adora tiptoe quietly over to her. 

She half expects for Adora to shake her awake, but to her surprise she feels fingers carding through her hair. 

Catra freezes, trying to keep her breathing even. _What was she doing?  
  
_

The touch is soft, gently pushing her hair back and brushing her scalp. 

She lets it go on for a few seconds, before she grabs Adora’s wrist, letting one eye lazily open. The blonde's eyes were wide, like a kid that got caught with her hand in the cookie jar. 

‘Stop touching me so familiarly. We’re not friends.’ Catra says, but there's no heat behind her words. She forces herself to get up, fake yawning as she gathers up her books.   
  


Adora's cheeks are pink, her hands bunched up around her skirt. 'Do you have another shift? I’ll come.' 

'No one asked you to!' Catra replies, making her way down the now empty corridor. Of course Adora memorized her work schedule. She starts power walking her way to the school doors, hoping to lose Adora on the way.   
  


All she wanted was to finish her shift, get a few hours of study done so she could get the damn scholarship and graduate. It was for her first choice of university, and they were granting a free ride to the top student of their school. If she could just manage that, she could get a degree and finally get a good job. Catra didn't need distractions by her rival, not everyone could effortlessly get full marks on every subject. She had to struggle for it, if she was ever going to get out of this cursed cycle.   
  


‘Are you seriously following me to work?’ Catra says, deadpan. Adora was scurrying after her like a puppy with separation anxiety. She stops walking, watching the blonde trip over herself in her hurry to catch up to her on the street. ‘Dude I’m begging you, please get a life.’ 

‘Why not? I want some chicken nuggies.’ She says. Catra shoots her a look of disgust. 

‘You’re going to get pimples and DIE from all this junk you eat!’ Catra whaps her over the head with her textbook. Adora winces, and almost walks into a lamp post. 

‘Aww, are you worried about my health?’ Adora teases. Catra goes to kick her, but the school captain dodges it, her wide grin illuminated by the setting sun. 

  
‘Eat a damn vegetable instead of coming to Burger King everyday! You’ll ruin your perfect figure.’ Catra shoots back, hoping that Adora would care more about maintaining her sculpted body than annoying her everyday. Wait, that wording was kind of-

‘You think I have a perfect figure?’ 

The brunette can feel her face heating up, and she knows she’s blushing. She shoves Adora away, turning away so she can’t see her face.

‘Fuck you and your fucking corn-cob abs, stop eating here!!! Unhealthy shite!!’ Catra curses, but Adora just laughs, clutching at her wrists so she can’t hide her furious blushing. 

‘Even when you’re angry you can’t stop complimenting me.’ Adora replies, biting back a grin. 

‘Don’t make me perma-ban you from the store!’ 

  
\--

The day of the swimming carnival finally arrived, colourful flags decorating the outside pool. Hundreds of students were seated on the concrete steps, waiting to compete in the relays, or currently in line to the canteen. 

Adora looked good in her one piece swimsuit. It highlighted her muscled back that was currently glistening from the pool water. Her golden hair was damp, curling around the edges. She looked almost ethereal, sparkling in the sunlight. 

Meanwhile Catra sat in the bleachers in her ratty t-shirt and shorts watching her, feeling like the embodiment of that one Taylor Swift song. _Stupid Adora.  
  
_

Adora's friends had coordinated their outfits to match their Bright Moon house colours, all pinks and purples. Mermista's house was dressed in blue, while the girls dressed in green from Perfuma's house fawned around the lifeguard on duty. They had even painted their faces with coloured zinc. 

How nauseating.

‘You want some hot chips?’ Scorpia asks, plonking herself next to Catra. She nods and scarfs it down, eyes laser focused on Adora’s long legs. 

As the day dragged on, they were doing admittedly worse than she would’ve liked. It was proving difficult to get them motivated, and doing 3rd out of 4 houses was not a good look.

‘Scorpia, you’re up for the 100 metre freestyle relay, do not let me down.’ She pats her friend on the shoulder, glaring at the other teams. 

‘Aye aye, Cap’n!’ Scorpia grins, doing a mock salute. 

Scorpia was against one of their biggest competitors Huntara, another girl from Perfuma’s house. They line up at top of the platforms, and when the whistle blows she dives in. 

It’s close, but Scorpia wins by a hair winning the final. Catra grins at her, and Scorpia beams back. Even though Perfuma’s house lost, the blonde was all giddy over Scorpia’s performance and goes to lead her away to cool off.   
  


A voice blares over the loudspeaker. 

_50 points._

The Horde was now at second place. Catra’s heart starts beating faster, ecstatic. Now they actually had a chance at beating Adora's house! She stands up and swivels around to face her own team.   
  


'Listen up, assholes!' Catra barks, looking at the sea of mismatched green. Their disinterested eyes blink up at her. 

'We're gonna get the most points _and we will win!'_

She hears a group of boys- Sea Hawks old friends, probably, mutter to themselves.   
  


_We?_

_Why should we try when she won’t even do one race?_

_I know right. Who even elected her as house captain?  
  
_

‘Excuse me, what the fuck did you just say?’ Catra growls, marching over to the chad looking teenage boys in her house. Instead of backing down as most people usually did, they glared back at her. The tan one with patches of facial hair named Scurvy stands up to confront her. 

‘Miss Vice Captain thinks she’s too good to compete in the relay while we do all the work.’ Scurvy says, and the boys behind him all nod in unison. ‘All of us have already competed and we’re tired.’   
  


‘Uh, does it look like I care? Get back out there so we can beat Adora!’

‘Hell no. We’re boycotting, until you can prove you’re gonna pull your weight.’ He declares, poking a finger at her chest.

By now everyone in the Horde was staring at them, and by their defiant eyes seemed to be agreeing with him. Her position as house captain was slipping. 

She slaps his hand away, incensed.

‘What do you think you’re doing, undermining my authority? If I say get back out there, _then go!_ ’

‘Why, too scared to swim? Afraid you’ll lose?’ Scurvy challenges. 

Catra grits her teeth. It’s not like she was going to admit to these extras that she was afraid of water. Usually intimidation worked, but they didn’t seem to be backing down either.  
  


As if he sensed her hesitation, Scurvy grabs her arm and his other two friends grab the other. They're surprisingly strong, Catra's arms are like twigs in their grip. 

‘Get _off_ me!’ Catra screeches, her pulse speeding up. They start walking her to the deep end of the pool, to the sound of cheering from her house like the traitors they were.

She tries to kick at her captors, but they’re laughing, like it was all a fun game.  
  


Catra feels lightheaded as they approach the edge of the pool. 'Stop it, it's not funny!' She tries again, feeling desperate. Where was the lifeguard when you needed him? 

Scurvy gives her a cocky grin, not catching on to her fear. No one seemed to be paying attention to her internal mental breakdown, they had probably thought she was infallible. Unafraid of anything. They swing her back, and then let go. 

Catra shrieks as she hits the water, making a loud splash as she falls in. That proved to be a mistake, as she inhales a gallon of water doing so. She splutters and gasps, trying to scramble to the edge but failing. Instead she was sinking, her arms flailing pathetically. 

Catra couldn’t breathe, the surface seemed so far away now. She had to be drowning, water rushing through her ears, clawing through nothing. There’s only a rush of bubbles and a pressure on her lungs as they fill up with chlorinated water. People were shouting from above, but it was muffled. 

There was a reason why she hated water as much as she did. Their foster mother Shadow Weaver had dunked her head into the bath countless times, holding Catra’s head in place with her sharp nails. She had always said it was to clean her properly, but she knew it was her punishment for just existing in her household. The result of that was her never learning how to swim, and a crippling fear of water.   
  


Catra could feel her legs locking up, paralysing fear coursing through her veins. The more water she inhaled, the more dizzy she got, her limbs feeling heavier than bricks. 

Spots appear in her vision, and her lungs finally give out. She had to be on the bottom of the pool by now, but it was strangely calm down here. When she feels her back hit the tile, she blacks out. 

\--

The next thing she knows is that a warm pair of lips are pressing against her own. They’re soft, and they kind of taste like strawberry chapstick. Her head is still swimming though, like she was still underwater. The person breathes in air into her mouth, and she vaguely comphrends _Oh, they’re giving me CPR._

Before she can react, someone practically body slams her chest and she chokes. Before they can do it again she pushes them off her, she was going to throw up. Catra turns to the side and promptly splutters out the entire pool’s worth of water out of her lungs. 

She can feel herself being unceremoniously brought back to life, weakly coughing out the last of the offending liquid. Catra can feel herself swaying from side to side, her hands shaking like crazy. 

_‘Hey!’_

The person’s voice is muffled, but soon her ears pop and she can suddenly _hear_ everything again. 

‘Catra!’ 

Everything was too loud, too bright. There were people surrounding them, blurry colours mixing together like the weirdest acid trip she’s never had. 

A warm pressure is on her side, and she hazily blinks up at the loud noise in her ear. Blonde hair, a red varsity jacket.   
  


Suddenly she’s panicking for a whole other reason. Everything hits her at full force now, the crowd, the stares, fucking _Adora_ out of all people giving her CPR. Her greatest weakness being exposed in front of everyone. She felt like a kid again when Shadow Weaver frequently tried to drown her bathing her in front of the other orphaned kids as they watched on. 

Sweat beads at her forehead, everyone is talking so loudly and her gut is twisting and she can’t _breathe.  
  
_

_She couldn’t swim?  
  
_

_What’s wrong with her?  
  
_

_Someone call an ambulance!_

‘No-No ambulance-’ Catra stutters, keeling over. Like she could afford a $400 glorified taxi to the damn hospital. She tries to inhale, but it just comes out as rasping.

Catra frantically scrabbles at her throat, leaving long red marks across the wet skin. She can feel hot tears bead in the corners of her eyes, contrasting with how cold the rest of her body felt. 

‘Catra!’ 

It was Adora again. ‘You have to sit up, open up your airways.’ Catra glares at her, but the blonde manhandles her into a better position. She takes in another breath, and to her relief air starts flooding back into her lungs again. 

‘Everyone back away, you’re stressing her out.’ Adora commanded the crowd.

'Here, wear this.' She takes off her jacket and bundles it protectively over Catras shoulders. ADORA is emblazoned on the back in big white letters. Catra looks at it in confusion, until belatedly realizes her drenched shirt stuck to her like a second skin so it was almost see through. She grips the jacket around herself tighter, embarrassed.   
  


The lifeguard and the teachers finally arrive, and she’s carted away from the crowd.

\-----

Catra jolts awake to a loud rattling knock on her garage door. She blinks a few times, getting the grit out of her eyes. Since when did she get visitors? The only person who knew where she lived was Scorpia.

The knocking gets louder, more urgent. It vibrates through the concrete walls of the tiny refurbished garage. Catra gets up, still feeling groggy from the fever. Adora’s varsity jacket laid next to her, still smelling vaguely like the blonde mixed with chlorine. Somehow she had made home after the swimming carnival. The last thing she remembered was collapsing onto her mattress after refusing to go to the hospital.  
  


‘Catra? Are you in there?’ 

_What the hell? Is that Adora?  
  
_

Catra forces herself to stand up, her bare feet pattering across the cold concrete. She kicks a few cardboard boxes out of the way so she can manually roll up the door. The automatic function broke ages ago, and her landlord still hadn’t gotten it fixed. 

Why on earth she was letting her worst enemy in her home was beyond her, all of the water that went up her brain must’ve made her stupid. 

She only has the strength to lift it halfway, the sunlight blinding her in discomfort.   
  


‘Why the fuck are you here?’ Catra growls, however she must not paint the most intimidating picture. Probably gave the impression of a cracked up ogre in a cave.

Adora laughs a little, as she tries to maneuver her way into the garage. She ducks underneath the roll up door like it’s a game of limbo, and to Catra’s satisfaction she bangs her head on it.  
  


‘I brought soup.’ Adora lifts up a small plastic bag full of ingredients. She looks around nervously for a kitchen, but becomes increasingly distressed as she starts to realize this whole place was only one room.   
  


‘So- uh.’ Adora chokes out, clearly embarrassed. ‘This is...where you live.’   
  


Catra rolls her eyes at her attempt to not insult her living conditions. Her furniture consisted of an old mattress, a sofa from someone's front lawn, a rotting table and chair from the council cleanup, and a tiny mini-fridge and a portable stove she got from the dump, all crammed into the small garage. 

It wasn’t too bad, as terrible as it was at least it was her space. The landlord never came to bother her and charged half the amount of current rental homes in the area, so all in all it was a pretty good deal.   
  


‘Not what you were expecting, Princess?’ Catra yawns, scratching her back to return to her bed. ‘Let me guess, Scorpia told you where I lived. God knows why I tell her anything, she can’t keep a secret to save her life.’ 

Adora nods, placing the groceries on the table. ‘I just wanted to see if you were feeling any better after…’ She flounders, looking extremely out of place in her iron pressed pristine uniform.

‘Take a seat.’ Catra gestures to the sofa. ‘Don’t worry, I got rid of the lice ages ago.’

Adora gives her a look.

‘I’m kidding.’ She wasn’t, but it didn’t look like Adora was gonna sit on it otherwise.

Adora gingerly sits down, avoiding the odd looking stains on the fabric. They sit in silence for a minute, as she drinks in her surroundings. 

  
‘So, the boys who pushed you into the pool got suspended.’ Her school captain says, scratching the little blonde poof on the top of her forehead. 

‘Good.’

‘How’s your fever?’ 

Catra sighs into her blanket, rolling around to glare at the other teenager. ‘Fine. How long are you planning to be here, anyway?’  
  


‘Oh, uh-’ Adora gets up to rummage through the plastic bag she brought. ‘Also I was just gonna stick around to um, make you some soup. I brought meds too!' 

She triumphantly brings out some Panadol, only belatedly realizing that there was no tap inside to pour Catra water. 

‘There’s a hose outside if you want water. You have to boil it though.’ 

‘R-right.’ Adora says awkwardly, but makes no move to actually leave to go outside. Instead she picks up the contents of her plastic bag and makes her way to the fridge.   
  


‘Oi, don’t touch my food!’ Catra calls out, annoyed. 

Adora pauses, the ingredients that needed to be chilled still in her arms as she opens the fridge door.

‘There’s nothing in here though.’ 

‘Uh, yes there is. Don’t you see that stack of bread? Managed to convince my manager it was expired, so I got it for free. Don’t go touching it.’ Catra says proudly, smug that she had finessed the Burger King system. ‘Also Lonnie never notices the condiments going missing. You can’t use my ketchup and mustard packets for your stupid soup, you hear?’   
  


‘Catra.’

‘What?’ 

‘How...how can you live like this? I had no idea it was this bad.’ Adora says, kneeling in front of the mini fridge like she was gonna have a first class breakdown. 

_Why was she the one getting upset? She wasn’t the one who lived here.  
  
_

‘Kinda rude thing to say as a houseguest, much.’ Catra scoffs, offended. ‘Sorry for not living in the lap of luxury like you do.’

‘But even applying for welfare, surely the government could-’ Adora objects. 

Catra could almost laugh at how naive she sounded. ‘What, so they could catch me and throw me back into the foster care system?’ 

‘You know what I mean. Even Shadow Weaver’s foster home was better than-’  
  


 _‘Don’t you dare finish that sentence.’_ Catra snaps, her blood suddenly boiling with rage. Just the mere mention of her name brings a flood of memories she didn't want to remember. Adora looks back at her, surprised at the sudden outburst. 

‘I’d rather _die_ than go back to Shadow Weaver. You know she used both of us just for welfare money?’ Catra seethes, stalking her way closer to Adora. They’re face to face now, the blonde frozen in place.

‘I..’ 

Years of resentment start spilling over, and Catra can’t stop.   
  


‘Not like _you_ care, since you were adopted out by a nice rich family with your new sister Glimmer. Must be nice to be picked out with your goody goody nice girl persona and forget all about the people you left behind huh?’ Catra grits her teeth, she’s shaking in rage now.   
  


She still remembers that day when the tall rich lady with the pink and purple hair decided to adopt a child to fill the void in her heart left by her deceased husband. 

When she picked Adora, even though she was going to be adopted by Shadow Weaver already as her favourite. 

How Catra was left alone with nothing when Adora went with Angella, the abuse increasing tenfold as Shadow Weaver took out her anger at her. No one ever asked to see Catra, with her untrusting eyes and feral mannerisms. 

‘Who would adopt me, right? What a joke. Now you come in here insulting _my_ place when I made it here on my own, _with no one to help me?!’  
  
_

Adora stares at her in shock, speechless. The words hang in the air, like they were a rope choking them both. They look at each other until Catra’s rapid breathing calms down.

‘I..I’m so sorry Catra. I did try to contact you...but you never replied...’ Adora says, throat tight with grief. 

Catra rolls her eyes. ‘Like Shadow Weaver personally hand delivers me mail, got it.’   
  


Adora swallows, lip trembling. ‘I really did try to go back, I did. But Shadow Weaver told me you had run away, and I couldn’t find you anywhere no matter how hard I tried. I thought...I thought-’

A tear drops down Adora’s face, and she quickly wipes it away before Catra can react. 

‘So when I saw you had transferred to my school, and that you worked at Burger King, it was like a miracle to me. You were here, and you were alive, and I was so, so happy to see you. Even if you hated me coming to your workplace everyday, or that you thought I was only doing it to rub my good fortune in your face... I just missed you so much, I couldn’t help it.’ Adora exhales shakily. Her words seemed genuine, and Catra felt her heart tighten. 

More tears spill out, and this time Catra reaches over to cup her face. She can feel her last remanments of her anger dissipate as she thumbs away the hot liquid from Adora’s red cheeks.   
  


‘Why are you the one crying? IIIdiot.’ 

‘Mmn.’ Adora mumbles, her hand curling around Catra’s. ‘About yesterday. Seeing you go under the water like that, I just couldn’t bear to lose you again. So I found myself here. I'm sorry.’ 

‘I get it. I seriously get it.’ Catra pushes Adora’s nose up so it resembles a pig. ‘You big stalker.’   
  


Adora wrinkles her nose. ‘I’m glad you know now though. Eating Burger King everyday was awful.’ 

‘Then don’t eat here!’ 

‘But I wanted to see you.’ Adora pouts, and Catra rolls her eyes. _So clingy._

‘Just you wait. I’ll take first place and get that scholarship so I can finally get out of this dump.’  
  


The blonde smiles, but it slowly turns serious. 

‘Catra...I know you don't want any help but it doesn't hurt to accept some? I'll bring food to you- proper food and not mouldy Burger King leftovers.’ 

The offer sounded tempting, especially to her empty stomach. But Catra forces herself to resist. She had her pride, and she knew better than to rely on Adora as a steady source of help.  
  


‘I’m not gonna rely on you again, you know. I’m not here to fuel your savior complex, or to alleviate your guilt.’ 

Adora contemplates for a moment. _If she thinks too hard she’ll injure her tiny brain,_ Catra scoffs. 

‘If you won’t accept it for free...How about a trade?’   
  


Catra raises an eyebrow, letting go of Adora’s face. ‘What do you want from me? Let me guess, same thing the other dudes who propositioned me for cash?’ She makes a lewd motion with her fingers, and Adora gasps in scandalized shock. 

‘N-no! Wait, did you-’ 

Catra blinks, before realizing the insinuation. ‘Fuck no! I've never done anything with anyone except for-’

They both recall the CPR kiss from the day before, and they look away, faces burning. 

After an awkward moment of silence, Adora speaks up.  
  


‘How about we be friends again? That's all I ask for.’ 

‘Hah?’

‘Also you have to unblock me and allow me to message you!’ Adora says triumphantly, her eyes suddenly burning with intensity. It catches Catra off guard.  
  


‘What the fuck? You see me at school?’

‘And I get to message you everyday.’ 

'Once a week.' Catra shoots back. 

'Once every 3 days.' Adora says. She's too close, and it's frying Catra's brain. 

'Fine!' Dealing with Adora was exhausting. How on earth Glimmer and Bow handled it, was beyond her.   
  


Adora smiles, and it's almost blinding. ‘Great! I’ll start bringing you groceries then! Plus I owe you for the whole door breaking thing.’ She snatches up Catra’s old cracked phone, and starts adding herself as a contact. 

‘Wait I forgot about that! Give my number back!’ She tries to swipe for the phone, but Adora lifts it out of reach. 

‘Too late! Friendship is about not tallying about who owes who! It's equal!’ 

‘If I wasn't sick right now I’d pummel you to the ground.’ 

‘Nah you wouldn't.’ She was right but she wasn't gonna say that. ‘Come on, let’s take a photo together for my contact pic.’   
  


Adora places her arm around Catra, angling the phone to get a good picture. 

The flash blinds Catra, and when they turn to look at the screen it’s a less than flattering image. Catra’s face is scrunched up, while Adora has posed, looking flawlessly photogenic. 

‘Ughh, do you have to be perfect at everything?’ Catra complains, ducking underneath her arm. ‘Delete it, I look like I’m having a seizure.’ 

‘Well I love it.’ Adora smiles, adding Catra’s number into her own phone. She’s looking at the photo fondly, sending it to herself. ‘It’s our first photo together.’   
  


_God, did Adora need to be this embarrassing all the time?_

‘Yeah yeah, you sap.’ Catra grumbles, but she can’t help but smile too. 

_Flash_. 

‘You smiled! You smiled!’ Adora crows, grinning ear to ear, peeking behind her phone. ‘And I got it on camera!’ 

‘I’m going to break your phone!’ 

  
This new 'friendship' with Adora was going to kill her. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> catra is that 'i can't swim' vine


	3. Party

Catra was currently studying in the library, trying to work her way through a math problem.   
Her place didn't have internet, so she usually alternated between the school wifi, the public library, and Burger King. Lonnie usually let her study in the break room when the libraries closed up. 

Her phone pings with a message, obviously from Adora. 

Catra picks up her phone and unlocks it, eyebrow raising when she sees the message.   
  


**Adora** : 

Wyd?   
  


Catra sighs. Of course that airheaded jock texted like a frat boy. As much as she wanted to leave her on read, a deal was a deal. 

**  
Catra** : 

Studying. 

**Adora** : 

So diligent! You're so cool, Catra :) 

**Adora** : 

I'm weightlifting right now! Gotta work off all those BK calories 💪

_  
Great, maybe she will leave her alone to go do her workout._

**Adora** : 

[image.attachment]

Catra almost drops her phone when she sees the photo Adora sent. It was a shot of her by the mirror, and she was flexing with a dumbbell. She was wearing a black crop top, which framed her abs perfectly.   
  
What was she doing, getting flustered over what, a gym rat photo that looked like it belonged on a Tinder profile? After much gay panic and debate, Catra takes a photo of herself with her middle finger up to the camera. She taps ‘send’ angrily. 

**Catra** : 

[image.attachment] 🖕  
  
She doesn't get a response for a few minutes, which was odd. Usually Adora typed back at the speed of lightning. 

_Ping_. 

**Adora** : 

wow Ur rlly hot   
  
Catra looks at the text, slack jawed. What the hell? 

**Adora** : 

Oh my god I am so sorry. That was Glimmer, she took my phone. 

Catra could almost scream, but she was in a public library. She settles for furiously chewing her out, sharp nails flying over the keyboard.   
  


**Catra** : 

Plz make Ur excuses more believable. It's so unoriginal I can't even post this on r/OopsDidntMeanTo. 

**Adora** : 

I really didn't mean to 🥺

 **Adora** : 

I mean 

**Adora** : 

Glimmer didn't mean to   
  
God, Adora was so stupid. Yet here Catra was, blushing like a fool. When she doesn’t answer for a while, her phone starts pinging again with notifications.   
  


>Adora liked your photo

>Adora liked your status  
>Adora reacted to your comment  
>Adora liked your photo  
  


It goes on for another 23 times and Catra scrolls through it, dumbfounded. Unblocking her was a mistake. 

\---- 

As promised, Adora would visit her garage when her shifts were over bringing groceries. In exchange Catra would cook, as it seemed like Adora would burn water if she tried. 

It started off as a weekly thing, but in a true Adora-like fashion it ended up like this everyday. They would talk for hours, catching up on their lost years together. 

Adora talked about all sorts of things, like how hard it was adjusting to the soft beds at first and how she requested a hard one. She told her about the contents of the letters she would send to Catra that never went received. Catra just listened, gratified to hear that Adora missed her in their time apart even half as much as she did. 

They would sing the little songs they invented back when they were kids and make up whole new ones as they waited for the food. Adora even started learning how to cook after watching Catra, and she would barge in uninvited with new recipes. The food tasted better with company, and Adora took great pleasure in piling her seconds. 

Catra would show her the local dumpster and they would go scavenging for items they needed. She taught her how to repair the things they found using Youtube tutorials, and how to disinfect them. It was fun watching Adora try to haggle for prices at the market, or her face when she realized she had to use the outhouse to go to the bathroom at Catra’s. 

  
Days bleed into months, their easygoing friendship making Catra feel at peace for the first time in forever. 

Right now they were currently in their trial exam period, which functioned both as practice for their final exams and half of their final marks. They were sitting in the library, chatting about their future majors. 

Catra taps a pencil to her chin. ‘Let me guess, you want to do art. No, art history.’

‘Political science, actually! Did you know Eternia University has _the_ number one ranked Political Science course in the entire country?' Adora says, flipping through the uni coursebook.   
  


'Wao, future leader of the free world huh? That's kinda hot.' Catra teases, while Adora swats her in embarrassment. 

'What about you?' 

'Double degree of Law and Social Work.' Catra replies. 'Cliche I know. But I just want to be in a position where I can sue the shit out of Shadow Weaver. The system is corrupt, and there's thousands of kids being abused.'   
  


'Wow, you're so cool Catra.' Adora says in awe. 'You're so smart, you'd definitely get in.' 

'Damn right.' She scoffs, crossing her arms. 

'You're gonna love Eternia. I went to their open day, the campus is gorgeous. Oh my gosh we could dorm together!' 

'Gross, who'd want to be _your_ roommate?' 

_'You_ would.' 

'Ew, you're so full of yourself. Anyway get off me, I have work soon and I need to get changed.' 

'Ah yes, the cute Burger King apron. I never get tired of it.' 

They would always flirt back and forth like this, but nothing ever came out of it.   
  


With her friendship came the feelings that she had repressed long ago, unknotting and resurfacing like they had never gone at all. However she had no idea if Adora even liked her in that way, given how affectionate she was with Bow and Glimmer. She was popular with boys and girls alike, but she never dated anyone. Catra never dared to ask. 

Once Adora had fallen asleep in Catra's bed, and the brunette had woken up to the other girls arm around her and their feet tangled together. It reminded her of when they shared the bed as kids, but now they were grown up and this kind of thing didn't have an innocent meaning anymore. Having her there made her heart race and her palms sweaty.

She had wanted to kiss her then. She wanted to kiss her now. Catra wanted every single morning to end up like that. 

\-- 

**Adora:**

Your birthday is soon! Did you want anything?  
  


 _You_ , Catra thinks, like a huge sap.   
  


**Catra:**

My sanity back. 

**Adora:**

Oh my gosh, we could throw you a party at my place! You’re turning 18 right? We could go out drinking! Angella has this amazing vintage wine collection and I could make cocktails! 

Catra receives another wall of text, basically planning the entirety of this birthday party with Bow being the DJ and how Glimmer could make these buns that were to die for. Adora starts going through the entire party guest list until she has to cut in.   
  


**Catra:**

lol calm down 

**Adora** : 

Does this mean Ur on board? 🎉

 **Catra:**

yes fine since you won't shut up about it 

**Adora** : 

AAAAAAAH YOU'RE THE BEST!!!!!!! ♥️♥️♥️♥️ U WILL NOT REGRET THIS 

DW I WILL PLAN EVERYTHING <3333 

💗💖💖😻  
  


The excessive amount of heart emojis make Catra grin dumbly into her palm. 

She's glad they're not video chatting, or Adora would've already taken a screenshot. 

\---  
  


It’s the day of her 18th birthday, and she’s nearing the end of her shift. The best friend squad were waiting for her at their usual table so they could give her a ride. 

  
‘Hey Catra. Can I speak to you out back?’ Lonnie asks, gesturing outside. 

_What the heck, did she do something wrong?_ It’s been pretty peaceful as of late, and Catra tries to remember if she had done anything to Kyle recently. She nods, chucking her apron at the back as she tries not to notice Adora’s eyes following her. 

Catra goes out to the back of the store, the night air nipping at her shoulders. Lonnie waits for her there, biting her lip.

‘What’s up? Don’t tell me you’re giving me a raise.’ Catra jokes.   
  
Lonnie looks conflicted, and she takes a big breath.   
  


‘I’m sorry but our store isn’t doing so well. I know you’re turning 18, and that means we can’t afford to keep you on anymore.’  
  


‘What…?’   
  


Catra felt numb, like she wasn’t really there in the back alley with Lonnie. It felt like an out of body experience. She could only stare at her, betrayed. 

Like Lonnie could read her mind, she tries to correct herself. ‘It wasn’t my decision, it was Octavia’s.’

Of course it was. Her regional manager was the reason she could never just swipe food while she was working. Octavia never liked her, she always reviewed the security cameras and told her off for goofing around. She must’ve known the door incident was on Catra’s shift, and what really happened despite Adora’s cover up. This ‘layoff’ was just an excuse to get rid of her from a financial standpoint.   
  


‘Thank you for all your hard work over these past 3 years. I know you’re going through a rough time, so we will of course give you a recommendation.’

Catra just nods.   
  


She returns to her shift, robotically going through the motions. Catra doesn’t even say anything sassy when Adora asks for a burger with no patty and no onions and no sauce, only cheese on bread.

The lack of a clever comeback to their gag routine has Adora concerned. ‘Are you okay?’ 

Of course she wasn’t. How could she be? She was going to have to vacate her garage space, not like she had anywhere to put her furniture in. What the hell was she going to do? 

‘I’m fine.’ She says, even though tears were threatening to burn a hole in the back of her eyelids. ‘Just...rough day.’ 

‘It’s your birthday! The party will cheer you up.’ Bow says brightly. ‘I have the sickest playlist of all time, you're gonna love it.' 

'My mum isn’t home so we have free reign over the entire house! Come on girl, let's get you changed!' Glimmer crows, too excited about the party to pick up on Catra's mood. 'Makeover time!!' 

  
The two of them force her into Glimmer's Mercedes, on their way to buy every alcohol imaginable from the bottle shop before they go to her house. 

The last thing Catra wanted to do was play dress up or even go to her party, but Adora had planned for so long for this. It would definitely ruin the entire night if she refused to go.   
  


Out of all the times they had hung out, she’s never been to Adora’s house. She leans her head against the window when they drive into the fancy part of town, by the lakeside with the multi-million dollar yachts parked in the water. 

That still doesn't prepare Catra for when security lets them in through the black gates to the biggest mansion she’s ever seen. There were fountains, perfectly manicured lawns, a tennis court, and was that _a helicopter pad?!  
_

It was incredible, she had only seen this kind of luxury in the movies. So Glimmer was _rich_ , rich. No wonder she was put out that Adora had her 18th birthday at Burger King.   
  


Catra looks at Adora with a dumbfounded expression as the attendants let them in, and the blonde looks almost embarrassed when they have to get into _an_ _elevator_ to go to her room. 

Glimmer picks out a hybrid of clothes from her and Adora's closets. The walk-in wardrobe is huge, like a department store full of designer clothes, shoes, jewellery and bags. 

Her wardrobe alone is bigger than Catra's entire home. The brunette suddenly understands why Adora cried upon seeing her concrete garage space. Looking at it, she wanted to cry too.   
  


Glimmer sets her down on her huge poster bed as she brings out a checkered crop top, ripped black garter shorts and an expensive looking black leather jacket with a gold trim. While Catra reluctantly gets changed, Glimmer picks out a pair of black strappy heeled boots and a hair straightener to battle the bush on Catra’s head. 

She sits still while Glimmer goes to work on her face, bringing out an entire Sephora’s worth of makeup. When Catra looks in the vanity mirror, she almost doesn’t recognize herself. Her eyes were framed with false eyelashes, a swooping cateye, smokey eyeshadow, sharp contour and her lips were now cherry red with bold lipstick. Glimmer applies the finishing touches with silver rings and clip on piercings.   
  
  
She hears Adora inhale with shock from the staircase in her bedroom. 

‘Catra you look _incredible_!’ She gasps. Adora was wearing this cute backless white dress tied with strings, short enough that it cropped above her knees. She was wearing sparkly wedges to go with it, and her hair was curled instead of her usual ponytail. Her delicate gold sword necklace frames her collarbones.   
  
Catra’s throat goes dry. ‘Uh- You too.’ 

Glimmer smirks, satisfied with her work. She gets changed into her own outfit, a short purple tulle lace dress with a white fur trim and a cute Gucci clutch to accompany it. The pink haired girl spritzes them all with her various floral and sea spray scented perfumes before they head back downstairs.  
  


‘Wow you guys look amazing!’ Scorpia marvels, and Adora’s friends voice their approval as well. 

‘Gosh this place is crazy.’ Scorpia whispers to Catra. ‘Did you see their pool? We should’ve just held the swimming carnival here!’ 

Catra opens her mouth to tell her how Lonnie had let her go, but Sea Hawk’s booming voice interrupts them. 

  
'I challenge you to the ultimate game of BEER PONG!' Sea Hawk announces, spinning the ball on his fingertips. 

Of course this gets everyone's competitive spirit going, and everyone gets into pairs.   
  


After a few drinks Catra has almost forgotten what she was worrying about earlier, too focused on the buzz. Her and Adora demolish the other teams by a landslide with their impeccable aim. 

Soon the attendants came out with dinner, and it was lavish with every food you could imagine. Lobster, kobe beef, hor d'oeuvres, beluga caviar, kale, and opulent ice cream were all among the plates of food on the table.  
  
They bring out a massive 3 tiered truffle cake, the words 'Happy Birthday' written with an oddly crude drawing of Catra. 

'You drew this?' She asks, and Adora nods happily. 'You worked so hard on mine, so.' Catra doesn’t have the heart to tell her that the cake was $7 and the drawing of her forehead was meant as an insult.   
They sing the birthday song for her, and this time no one brings up the cake cutting tradition. 

After dinner they sit outside in the garden around the bonfire Sea Hawk had made. He was drunkenly singing a loud shanty while Bow piled in the wood, fanning the flames. Frosta sips on a mocktail, the only one there who wasn’t old enough to drink yet. The fire flickers and dances, casting shadows around them. 

Catra downs a few more cocktails and jello shots as she waits for Mermista to light up some fireworks. Apparently it was illegal, but Mermista just waved her off, telling her that she’ll just pay the penalty fee as Catra’s birthday gift. Sea Hawk really did rub off on her. 

When she successfully sets them off they light up the sky in dazzling multicoloured sparks. Adora’s friends whoop with glee, taking photos and videos to commemorate the moment. 

Adora's side profile is lit up in the dark, and she looks impossibly beautiful among the backdrop of stars. Longing tears at her chest, Catra wants to hold her hand but her throat feels too tight and she can’t move. The truth was that she knew she had always had feelings for Adora, even back when they were just kids back in the foster home. But like a coward, she could never voice them for fear of Adora leaving her side.   
  


A loud neighing can be heard from the stables in response to the loud booming noises from the fireworks. 

'Swifty!' Adora says, standing up. The moment's breaks and Catra reels back her hand. 'Stay here, I'll be right back.' 

Her chance disappears, she couldn’t say it after all. She watches her go tend to her horse, feeling stupid.   
  


‘Yoohoo~, want a rematch?’ Sea Hawk calls out from the patio, pouring vodka into tiny glasses. 

‘Don’t mind if I do.’ Catra replies. She definitely didn’t know her alcohol tolerance levels yet, so it was the perfect time to take that to the test. 

Catra confidently does a whole line of shots, determined to drink herself into unconsciousness. Every time she sees a flash of Lonnie or Adora’s face in her mind, she takes another swig. Everyone is cheering her on, screaming the song ‘Shots’ over and over again, also all drunk out of their minds. Sea Hawk taps out at the 5th drink, and everyone screams at Catra’s flawless victory. Scorpia lifts her into the air to do a victory lap, cheering. 

  
Adora finally makes an appearance, alerted by the sound of Catra's shrieky laughter as Scorpia swings her around. 

‘Don’t worry, I can take it from here.’ Her school captain says pulling Catra away from her friend. Scorpia just shrugs and makes her way to the food table.  
‘Catra, maybe you should slow down.’ Adora tells the giggling girl in her arms. 

‘Noo way.’ She slurs, she was enjoying the feeling too much, the alcohol burning through her body, making her feel lightheaded. The light up disco dancefloor starts to blur into a kaleidoscope of colours. 

  
‘You got some weed?’ Catra asks, seeing Perfuma light a bowl. The taller girl hands her an already rolled up one and Catra snatches it to take a long drag. The smoke hits her lungs and she starts coughing. 

‘Oi Perfuma, why did you bring drugs? Angella will kill me!' Adora gripes, trying to wrestle the blunt away from Catra. 

‘Aw don't be like that! I made some edibles for you guys to try.’ Perfuma says cheerfully, pointing to the pot brownies. 

‘See? Scorpia likes them.’ She gestures at the other girl, who seemed to be currently tripping out of her mind and eating everything on the table. 

Catra goes to reach for one, but Adora grabs her by the wrist to lead her back inside. 'Alright, you're done for the night. Everyone say bye!'   
  


‘Byee Catra!’

‘Happy birthday!!’  
  


Adora grabs her by the waist to lead her to her bedroom, Catra wobbling after her in the heels Glimmer lent her. 

'Ugh Adoraaa, don't be such a party pooper. I'm fine.' She moans, leaning heavily on the other girl.  
'Don't you have a shift tomorrow afternoon? I don't want you getting hungover or drug tested.' Adora chides, rummaging around the dark for the light switch. 

Catra snorts. 'Oh you don't have to worry about _that_ anymore. Got laid off.' 

Adora looks at her in confusion, until realization dawns on her. 'Wait, is that why Lonnie took you outside?'   
  


'Say, I never got to give you _your_ birthday gift.' Catra pushes her hair back, voice sultry as she flings off her jacket. She never pinned herself down as a horny drunk, but here they were. Catra shoves Adora onto the bed, straddling her. Her golden hair spills over the mattress, soft like spun silk. 

'You still want that kiss?' Catra whispers in Adora's now burning red ear. 'My knife touched the bottom.' 

Adora's face now resembled a fire truck, mouth gaping in shock.

'C-Catra, I…'   
  


Catra presses their lips together, silencing her. She knows she probably tastes like alcohol and weed right now, but she couldn't care less in the moment. Adora's mouth is still slack jawed from mortification, so she takes the opportunity for tongue. She frowns and moves down to her neck when Adora doesn’t return the kiss. 

'Catra, what are you doing-' 

Catra bites down on Adora's nape. The blonde underneath her lets out a soft gasp, arching her back. Her gold manicured nails dig into her shoulder. 

'Stop, you're not thinking straight-!' 

'Sure ain't.' Catra grins, licking a stripe down the base of her neck. Adora’s necklace chain jingles with the movement. There was now an impressive hickey there, blooming violet on her pale skin. She pauses to admire her handiwork.   
  


'This isn't you talking, you'll, you'll regret this in the morning.' Adora stutters. She's shivering, their hands now laced together, silver rings clanking. 

'I know. I don't care.' She replies, kissing her again. Adora's teeth nick her lip. The alcohol in her system makes her feel lightheaded, confident. No way would she have managed this sober. Adora tastes better than she does, sweet like blueberry soju. Catra's hands wander down further, pulling the strings to untie the back of her dress-  
  


 _'Catra stop!'_ Adora suddenly shouts, striking Catra across the cheek in a deafening _slap_. 

Adora's eyes were blazing, almost teary in the dark. Her breathing was irregular, panting in and out. Catra stills, clutching her cheek. The look in her eyes sobered her immediately. 

Adora looks down at her palm, realizing what she just did. 'Sorry for hitting you!' She flounders. 'It's just that, you're only doing this because you’re drunk and upset, right?’

Catra just stares at her before climbing off. Cold realization settles as the fog in her brain clears. 'You're right. Forget it.' 

She sits on the edge of the bed, numbly watching Adora hurriedly trying to re-tie the back of her now wrinkled dress. Her lips are stained with Catra’s red lipstick. Adora catches her looking, and she quickly turns away to smooth down her hair with her fingers. 'You've had more than enough to drink tonight. I’ll get you some water to clear your head.’

She gets up to turn on the light switch, and Catra blinks in the harsh light from the chandeliers.   
‘Come on, let’s get you sobered up, okay?’ Adora leads her to the kitchen on the same floor, gingerly placing her friend on the slippery bar stool. 

The blonde goes to get the chilled jug of infused water from the fridge and pours it into a glass. Adora slides it across the island, and Catra reluctantly takes it. She sips at it, mint and lemon on her tongue. It tasted way better than her hose water. 

  
‘I’ll uh, pick out some groceries for you since we’re here and all.’ Adora says awkwardly into the silence, turning around to rummage through her pantry. 

Suddenly Catra is brought back to the whole reason why she was sitting here in this oversized mansion in the first place. Their friendship agreement. The one she had just violated. Catra had never felt more stupid to mistake Adora’s kindness and guilt for actual feelings. She felt like a charity case, waiting to collect food from the soup kitchen.  
  


Of course Adora didn't like her back. She just saw her as someone needing to be saved. The product of survival guilt. Catra wanted to whack her head on the corner of her marbled countertop and not wake up. 

Adora takes out a green plastic bag, and starts filling it with everything and anything she can get. Cans, pasta, biscuits, fruits and vegetables.   
Did Adora have fun, volunteering to slum it up in her place while she returned here? All she ever wanted her entire life was to be Adora’s equal.   
  


Scorpia and Sea Hawk's loud laughter and DJ music can be heard downstairs in the garden, beyond the tall golden trimmed windows. The class difference between them stretched like an unfathomable canyon. Living the classy bougie dream until the clock struck midnight and she was back in her run down garage. Except soon she won’t even have that anymore. Why did Adora have to bring her here? It was almost cruel. 

Catra's suddenly overcome with the urge to vomit. She nearly falls off the high chair in her rush to throw up the unholy cocktail of alcohol into the sink. Tears bead in her eyes from the sour taste as she continues to vomit out everything she ate that night. She can feel Adora by her side, patting her back reassuringly.  
  


It was by far the worst birthday she has ever had. 

\--

The morning of, Catra woke up in Adora’s bed with a splitting headache. 

Unfortunately she was _not_ given the gift of amnesia, as she vividly remembered every last excruciating detail about last night. 

She spots Adora’s mop of blonde hair under a blanket on the floor, even though there were a billion other free spare rooms to sleep in. Adora was probably too afraid to share the same bed as her now.  
  


Catra’s borrowed crop top digs uncomfortably into her skin, and she angrily flings it off her body. The shorts stick to her like a second skin, smelling of tequila. She grabs her old Burger King uniform and puts it on, though even this didn’t belong to her now. 

Adora shifts in her sleep, and Catra lightly steps over her to get to the door. The last thing she wanted was for Adora to wake up.   
  


As soon as she’s out, she runs out to the elevator and bangs frantically on the buttons until it sends her to the bottom floor. The lift opens with a _ding_ and in her haste she almost crashes headfirst into Glimmer.   
  


‘Oh hey! Are you going to work?’ Glimmer greets. She was in her silk pajamas and slippers, holding a glass of orange juice. 

‘Uh. Yeah.’ Catra lies, trying her best to look natural. 

‘Some party last night huh? Lucky today is a Saturday.’ Glimmer says conversationally, unaware of Catra’s urge to throw her across the room. ‘Hey, what happened to your cheek?’

Catra clutches her face, it still strung from where Adora struck her. ‘Nothing.’

Glimmer raises an eyebrow. ‘Well anyway, did you wanna stick around for breakfast? The cooks made pancakes, bacon, eggs, the whole deal.' She peeks behind Catra. 'Is Adora _still_ not up yet?’   
  


As much as Catra wanted to scream _get out of my way_ she schools her expression to her best customer service smile. ‘Nope she’s still sleeping it off. Anyway I’m gonna be late so I can’t stick around.’

‘Did you need a lift?’ Glimmer asks. It dawns on the brunette she couldn’t exactly run the entire way back home. ‘I’ll ask one of the drivers to take you back so you make it to your shift.’

Catra thanks her lucky stars that Glimmer was still too hungover to drive her. She wouldn’t have been able to dodge her questions if she had.   
  


‘Yes please.’ Catra says, giddy with relief. ‘Thank you.’ 

‘Ooh and before I forget, Adora told me last night to give you this.’ Glimmer says, grabbing the green bag of groceries off the counter. The shorter girl bundles it into Catra’s arms before she can object. 

‘Get home safe.’ She says, waving as the attendant leads her out the door. 

Catra looks down at the cans of food in her arms and doesn’t say anything. 

\------

The days leading up to graduation were painful, to say the least. 

They more or less pretend the kiss didn't happen. Adora never brings it up, and neither does Catra. 

She would stare at the ceiling, wishing she had never gotten piss drunk at her birthday and kissed her. Adora was right, she did regret it. It was awful, the look on Adora's face when she slapped Catra replays in her mind and nightmares over and over again. It was mortifying.   
  


Adora still messages her every 3 days, and Catra still replies, though her words are empty and devoid of banter. _I'm worried about you,_ she says. _I'm fine_ , Catra always responds. 

The brunette continues to humour her to keep the peace, only shutting down when her old job was mentioned. Catra doesn’t allow Adora back into her home again.   
  


Sometimes they study together, but she can't concentrate when Adora wears her glasses. Her heart hurts, so she cradles her cheek and tries not to remember. 

The hickey she had branded Adora's neck with had been covered with foundation until it faded away. None of her friends had teased her about it, so she clearly had not told a single soul what had happened. 

Catra bites at the scab on her lip from where Adora’s teeth nicked her until it bleeds. She wants to apologize, but the words stick on her tongue and she can't bring herself to talk about that night. 

Catra knew Adora was only here by her side to alleviate her guilt. Shame buries itself under her skin every time she's near her, like she was too embarrassed to even exist in the same space as Adora. To think she had the audacity to make a move on someone so out of her league; she couldn't even afford to live in Adora's wardrobe. She wanted to disappear. 

  
Exams are hard, and without an internet connection after the library closes at 6pm made it more difficult to study. She tries to use the Mcdonald's wifi but soon just ordering a water cup wasn't enough for the workers to let her stay. It was a fruitless effort anyway, in her heart she knew she wasn't going to come out on top. Her ranking had slipped, she wasn't even at second place anymore. Rent was due at the end of the month, and without her Burger King wage she knew she'll be kicked out sooner than later.   
  


Catra felt stressed and self destructive, and the only thing that kept her from falling off the edge completely was Scorpia. As much as she hated depending on others, she'd much rather her old coworker than Adora. 

Her classmates seemed to like this new, muted down version of Catra who didn't argue and just stayed quiet most of the time. Fighting back was too difficult when all she wanted to do was blend into the wallpaper. All they talked about was where they were going for vacation after graduation, and Catra certainly had nothing to contribute to that conversation.

She felt like crying, all the time. It was agony, wanting to burst out into tears randomly while she sat wasting away in the student council room. Despite herself, she missed Burger King, and she just kept getting ghosted or rejected in her other job applications. Sometimes when she really wanted to indulge herself, she'd go cry silently in the school toilet stall. 

  
Glimmer notices the change, and she catches her glaring. 'You don't seem as alive lately. Your eye bags are huge.' 

'S'fine.' Catra replies, hiding her hands so she doesn't see how they shake. Honestly Catra couldn't remember the last time she slept.

'Pfft, don't lie to me. Adora's worried about you. You're getting skinnier, and your eyes are always raw. All you do is stare into space.' 

Catra bites down on her nails. Of course she knew that. But she's gone through this before, and she'll do it again. 

'What happened between you two?’ 

‘None of your business.’ Catra replies, shuffling her way to the hall. 

\--

Their graduation ceremony starts off uneventfully. Every student’s parents except Catra’s sit proudly in the audience, eager to watch their kid graduate. One by one they receive their certificate and return to their seats. 

Adora and Catra stand side by side onstage, as Adora makes their final speech as School Captain. Through the blinding lights, she sees Angella waving proudly at her adoptive daughter in the crowd. All Catra ever wanted was to be loved- by a parent, by _anybody_.

Catra looks at Adora in the corner of her eye. She must look pathetic, lovesick and pining after someone she couldn’t have. 

  
‘It’s been such an honour serving the entire faculty and students of this school. I couldn’t have done it without my amazing Vice-Captain and all of my prefects. Now I’m proud to hand over my badge to the next School Captain, Frosta.’   
  


They go through the rest of the ceremony like that, each member of the student council handing their badges to their successors. 

Soon their Principal comes up to the podium, tapping it once and clearing her throat.   
  


‘Announcing our honor student, and the winner of the scholarship to Eternia University…’ Castaspella says, turning over the sign card. 

‘None other than our school captain, Adora!’  
  
Everyone starts clapping, and Adora walks across the stage to shake Castaspella's hand. 

Sounded about right. Catra never won against Adora in her entire life. She had already expected this outcome. Like a game of cat and mouse, going over and over for all eternity. 

Adora would excel with her elite education and secure a well paying job. Catra would struggle at the bottom indefinitely, never amounting to anything. She never would, if Adora was still there next to her. When the blonde re-entered her life, everything she had been working towards for years just collapsed. Her job, her home, her School Captain status, her chance at the scholarship, her sanity. 

She had to be wiped clean. A fresh start. 

  
The flower petals were falling, the streets decorated with a vibrant pink. The other students mill out of the crowd with their parents, chatting excitedly about what was next in their futures. She waits for Adora underneath a tree. 

'Congratulations.' Catra says, when she finally spots the other girl in the crowd. Adora pulls away from Angella’s embrace to meet her. 

'You deserve this so much more than I do.' Adora says, her voice pained like she didn't just win a full ride to her dream university. 'You should take it.'

  
'It's in your name, silly.' Catra replies, lightly tapping her with her rolled up certificate.

'Besides, I knew you'd get into Eternia, so I never applied.'

Adora blinks dumbly. '...What? Aren’t we going to the same university?’ 

She always was a bit slow on the uptake. ‘Only _you_ decided that, stuupid. Say, it's about time we ended this right?'   
  


‘Catra, what are you...' 

'Our deal. You don't need to feel guilty anymore or bring me anything.' Catra says, her voice sounding like it didn't belong to her. She rummages in her bag, bringing out Adora's spare varsity jacket that she hadn’t returned. 'Here, take this. Thank you for all the help.' 

'What do you mean? You want to stop being friends?' Adora says in disbelief, taking the jacket. 

Catra nods. ‘I can’t continue with the arrangement. I hope you understand.’ 

‘I don’t! Was I the only one who thought we were friends, real ones?’ Adora asks.  
  


‘...That’s right. I never saw you as a friend. You were just a meal ticket to me. Are you happy now?’ Catra snaps back. Shit, that wasn’t what she meant to say. She had planned to end this quickly and painlessly, on a high note. _Trust Adora to put up a fight._

Something seems to click in Adora’s brain. ‘Is this about the night of the party?’  
  


‘Figure that out yourself.’ Catra replies, turning to walk away. 

Adora grabs onto her arm. ‘Wait! If- if that’s what you want, I’ll give it! Just don't go!'   
  


_This dumb blonde really was offering up her body, out of what? A sense of duty? How stupid._

‘Is that right?’ Catra says, walking closer to her. Adora backs up until she is pinned to the tree. They’re face to face now.   
  


‘Can you really do this?’ Catra lifts Adora’s chin by a finger. 

Finally it seems to dawn on Adora exactly what Catra wanted. She swallows, biting her lip. 

There’s a flicker of hesitation, before Adora’s eyes squeeze shut defiantly. The blonde is shaking like a leaf, her breath coming out in panicked stutters from her pursed lips. 

Catra just stares at Adora’s scrunched up face impassively. Her scared reaction was the only confirmation she needed for closure.   
  


She flicks the other girl’s forehead, and her big blue eyes open in confusion.  
  
‘Chill out, I’m not that evil to do it to someone so unwilling.’

Adora blinks, clutching her forehead. ‘Catra?’

Suddenly Angella’s voice cuts through their conversation from the car park. ‘Adora dear, are you done chatting with your friend? We have reservations!'  
  


‘Um, I…’ Her old school captain opens her mouth to say something, but Angella's started to lose her patience. 'Adora, how long are you going to stand there? Glimmer is already waiting for us at the restaurant!' 

Catra just smiles tiredly. ‘Take care, dummy.’ 

She watches Adora being dragged off unwillingly by her adoptive mother to the car. 

Catra lets out a sigh. Her phone pings with a message from Scorpia, and she knows it's time to go. 

\---  
  


By the time Angella releases her from their graduation celebration, Adora can feel that it's already too late.

 **Adora** : 

Please, can we talk? Let me fix this  
  


A pop up appears over the screen. 

**Message Not Sent**

This person isn't receiving messages at this time.   
  


Adora sends another message, but they all go undelivered. Catra had blocked her again. Panic spikes through her veins, and she quickly dons on a jacket and grabs her car keys. 

She sneaks out that night, down the familiar winding path through the bush that led to Catra's place.   
  
'Catra?' She rolls up the garage door, blinking in the darkness. When her eyes adjusted, she found Catra's old home completely emptied. 

All the furniture and items her friend had collected over the years, they were all gone. The little stove where they cooked, the old mattress where they talked late into the night, all vanished like they were never there.   
  
A single green plastic bag remained on the floor untouched, filled to the brim of food. 

**catra working at BK fanart:**

**<https://twitter.com/mondaykilly/status/1276688893320900609> **

<https://twitter.com/huetrooper/status/1265188930741080064>

<https://twitter.com/quackelroys/status/1271199987540668416?s=20>

[https://mcatra.tumblr.com/post/620493235561824256/your-catra-works-at-burger-king-fic-is-great-you](https://twitter.com/quackelroys/status/1271199987540668416?s=20)

**Party clothes:**

<https://mcatra.tumblr.com/post/621174460776693760/catra-works-at-burger-king-pt-3>

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *I gotta go my own way/the winner takes it all plays in the distance*


	4. Target

Adora had been chasing Catra as long as she could remember. 

Even back at the orphanage, when she first laid eyes on the girl with the mismatched eyes she was instantly drawn to her. Catra hadn't trusted Adora at first, lashing out and scratching her when she got too close. But after weeks of persistence and giving her food, she had earned the brunette’s adorable smiles, her laughter and her warmth. When she cried Adora would comfort her, when she was scared she would hold her hand. Catra's affection was a precious jewel, and Adora was proud at the fact being the only one in the world to earn it. 

Adora worked hard to protect that smile. She would defend her from the other kids in the orphanage, as well as the adults who treated her badly. This never changed even when they had gone together to Shadow Weaver's foster home. 

Until they were separated.

  
When they met again, Catra was older, more tired, prickly and had a permanent scowl on her face. The world had been so cruel to her that being in a constant state of starvation and overwork had become her new normal. Although the other girl didn’t see anything wrong with it, Adora was determined to help, even if Catra called it her _hero complex._

Food had worked the first time, as well as being a steady presence by her side. If she had kept it up, perhaps they wouldn't have been brutally separated when they were in middle school. 

Adora wanted to smother her with everything she had. 

She wanted to hold her hand again, she wanted to spoil her, she wanted to spend every moment with her. But like she did when they were kids Catra was hostile, only accepting Adora's love with a price.

Whenever she tried to get closer to her she was met with disgust and anger. Catra spurned every single one of her advances, but she refused to give up. 

_Two steps forward, one step back._ She visited the Burger King every day, trying to win her over bit by bit. Adora was dumb and in love, spurred on by this second chance. She would eat all the nuggets in the world to get Catra to talk to her again. Even just to look in her direction. If she had confessed straight out, no doubt she'd either be clawed to death or have a restraining order put on her. This was Catra they were talking about, so she just needed to needle her way into her life first. 

Baby steps.   
  


_'How about we be friends again_?' 

\---

The party she had worked so hard to plan for Catra was a disaster. 

The atmosphere between them was worse than back when they weren't friends. It was suffocating. She used to be able to make Catra smile even if it was just a smirk, but now she couldn’t break through the walls she had put up.

Catra stopped joining them at lunchtime, and like Adora always did, she went looking for her. 

The brunette was sitting by herself in the school courtyard, sleeping softly on a bench behind a tree. Her breaths were slow as she breathed in and out, her eyebags a deep bruising purple. She seemed bonier now, all the progress Adora had made to feed her being undone before her eyes. Catra shivers a bit in her sleep, crinkling her nose at the cold breeze.

Adora quietly sits next to her, taking off her jacket to drape over the other girl. Catra sniffles awake at this, rubbing her red rimmed eyes. They were always a gorgeous colour, contrasting yellow and blue. 

_Catra’s so pretty,_ she thinks, not for the first time. Adora diligently kept a collection of candid photos of Catra’s smiles when she wasn’t looking. Pictures of Catra cooking her dinner, of her in her cute apron at Burger King, her furious blush when she teased her too hard, her nervous smile when she tried to get along with her friends. Catra’s constellation of freckles and the softness of her hair never failed to fill her with adoration.

Catra startles when she sees Adora, clutching at the jacket. It looks huge on her tiny frame, like a blanket. She stifles a sigh, an expression that Adora can’t decipher on her face. 

_What are you thinking about?_ Adora wants to ask, but knows Catra won't answer.

‘Did you eat lunch?’ She asks instead, hoping the bag of food she had given her was enough to tide her over for a few weeks at least.   
  


Catra tenses. ‘I already ate.’ Adora knows she’s lying. 

‘Your skin is pale. I’ll come to your house tonight and we can cook together.’   
  
Catra shakes her head, palm up. ‘Scorpia … asked for some tutoring help. So I can’t tonight.’ 

A pang of jealousy spikes through Adora. She shakes it off, trying again. 

'Then how about tomorrow?' The blonde asks, a tad desperately.   
  


'Geez.. Just stay at your mansion where you belong okay?' Catra replies, her head in her hands. She sounded tired, a deep set kind of exhaustion that went all the way to her bones. 'You shouldn't be seen hanging out in a place like that. It doesn't suit you.' 

'But I don't mind-'

'-But _I_ do okay, just please drop it.' 

The bell rings signalling the end of their lunch break. Catra turns away to stumble to class as Adora chides herself for just making it worse. She sees Scorpia waiting for her friend outside the school building, waving. When Catra sees Scorpia her hunched shoulders relax, just by a bit. That ugly feeling of possessiveness returns as the taller girl returns to her side, like she belongs there. 

_Rely on me instead._

She remembers Catra’s distant laugh from that night when Scorpia spun her around. 

_Laugh for me like that.  
  
_

It was a mistake to bring Catra to her house. She thought Catra deserved to be spoiled for a day, she wanted to give her the entire world. Clearly all that did was make Catra abhor her and her ridiculous amount of wealth. 

Her eyes were dark with grief and blurred with the effects of alcohol. She had thought Catra had just wanted to make out with someone, anyone, to forget and that Adora was just the closest and most convenient at the time. If she hadn’t pried her off Scorpia, the taller more muscular girl would’ve been the one being pushed into the bed instead. The excessive drinking, the smoking, a one night stand, they were all ways of her trying to self harm. Catra had the eyes of someone who wanted to punish herself, the weight of the world crushing her.  
  
It wasn't right to continue when she was self destructing in that state. So why did her heart hurt feel so broken rejecting Catra back then? 

Even though they had kissed, Catra never said anything about liking her. She had even confirmed it that night that she was just upset and drunk, so she refused to jump to conclusions. Hell, it was even a stretch for Catra to think of her as a real friend. She knew Catra regretted kissing her, as when she woke up the morning afterwards she was gone. Adora waited patiently for Catra to say something on her own terms when she was sober, but she never did. 

Catra seemed so stressed from losing her job she didn't want to press her for answers to her feelings. Instead Catra shut her out, and she was on the other side of this metaphoric wall. Nothing Adora said reached her, everything she said just seemed to piss her off. She couldn’t help but feel like she was getting replaced by Scorpia, the only one who really understood her class struggle. Adora loathed her own privilege and social class, what was she supposed to do with this great divide between them? There was no way Catra liked her, she knew the other girl secretly despised her for a whole laundry list of reasons. She clung onto this fabricated friendship, desperate for _any_ connection between them even if it was transactional. 

So when graduation arrived, the scholarship became another reason for Catra to hate her. Her fears were confirmed when Catra announced the ending of their friendship. To rub salt into the wound, Catra hadn’t even listed Eternia as a preference even back when they were friends. Catra never planned to be by her side long term. It was just Adora getting ahead of herself, and she never felt more idiotic.  
  
If she hadn’t had her birthday at her workplace, maybe Catra wouldn’t have been let go. If she hadn’t brought her to her house that night then Catra wouldn’t be falling apart like this. She could see why Catra resented her guts, but even now was kind enough to let her down gently. 

_‘I never saw you as a friend.’_

So she was right. Even though she had stupidly hoped somewhere along the line Catra liked her even platonically. But Catra had just faked tolerating her this whole time in exchange for groceries. 

_Wait, is this about the night of the party?_

Did she want payback for what she did? The bruise that had formed on Catra’s face had stayed for days from Adora’s gym rat induced brute strength. She remembers watching Catra nurse her cheek for days afterward, guilt suffocating Adora’s lungs. Anyone would still be mad after being hit by that much force. If Catra wanted a punching bag, she'd do it.   
  


_'If that's what you want I'll give it!'_

It was the least she could do after all the misfortune she had brought on her. Even though she loved her this much…

So when Catra pinned her against a tree, she expected to be at the very least slapped like Adora did to her at the party. It was what she deserved, after all. She braces herself to be hit, hoping it would be over quickly. 

_‘Chill out, I’m not that evil to do it to someone so unwilling.’  
_

Adora opens her eyes in confusion, surprised that she hadn’t been pummelled to a pulp. _Do what?_ She never does get her answer as Angella drags her off to go celebrate her graduation. 

  
  


\-----

When Adora drops to her knees in Catra’s vacated garage, her old friend’s words bounce around her head. The bag of groceries lay at her feet, untouched. 

_You were just a meal ticket to me._

So Catra had kept up this facade for her? For nothing in return? Adora spent a good half hour there just sobbing over a bag of canned food and wilted produce. She’s not proud to say she cried the whole drive home, too. Catra was strong enough to live on her own without her, but Adora wasn't. Perhaps that made her weak, but she didn't know what to do. Adora takes out her phone from her back pocket when she arrives home, and she quickly scrolls through her contacts. 

_'Hello?'_

'Scorpia! Can you tell me where Catra is?!'   
  


There's a stretch of silence while Adora is trying to level out her heavy breathing in the receiver.   
  


_'...I'm sorry but I can't tell you anything_.'

Her breath catches in her throat. 'So you _do_ know! I'm begging you-'   
  


_'Please don't call this number again._

_Take care, Adora.'  
  
_

Scorpia hangs up, and Adora stares at her phone in disbelief. She presses the call button again, but it rings twice before the call drops and goes straight to voicemail. Well of course her rival in love wouldn’t hand out her crush’s number. Adora wasn’t sure what she expected. 

Annoyed, she decides to text Perfuma.   
  


**Adora** : 

Hey what's scorpias address???? 

**  
Perfuma** : 

oh hey Adora 

Sorry, Scorpia's asked me not to tell you   
  


**Adora** : 

PLEASE I need to talk to catra  
  


 **Perfuma** : 

I'm sorry :/ 

If catra wants to be left alone you should respect that 

If she wants to see you again she will   
  


‘What the hell happened to you?’ Glimmer says incredulously, watching her adopted sister sob on the kitchen floor in a pile of rotting fruit and vegetables. 

‘She left.’ Adora replies. Glimmer looks confused, but when she sees the green bag she seems to understand the implication. The pink haired girl drops to her knees to comfort her.

‘What happened?’

Adora fills her in with the details of that night leading up all the way until an hour ago, and her friend’s eyes grow wider with every passing sentence. 

‘Wait, you guys hooked up? WHY DIDN’T YOU TELL ME!?’ Glimmer shrieks. ‘So that’s why Catra had that mark on her face!’   
  


Before she can say anything, Bow enters the kitchen holding a plate of snacks. 

‘What are you guys yelling about?’   
  


_‘BOW!_ ADORA AND CATRA MADE OUT AND ADORA SLAPPED HER AND NOW CATRA’S MOVED OUT OF THAT DINGY BASEMENT THING SHE LIVED IN AND THAT’S WHY THEY’VE BEEN SO WEIRD!’ Glimmer shouts.   
  


‘You guys _what!? Adora!’_ Bow gasped, scandalized. 

‘Why am I the one getting yelled at?’ Adora asks, somewhat offended.   
  


‘You’re killing me.’ Glimmer sobs, banging her fist into the pillow. ‘How are you our honour student while being this stupid?’ 

‘Oi.’ Adora frowns.   
  


‘She wasn’t going to hit you! _It’s obvious she was trying to kiss you!_ ’ 

Adora freezes, her entire world crashing down at that sentence. _What?_

‘No way. She clearly hates me. I think.’   
  


Glimmer groans loudly. ‘She obviously likes you! You guys kissed _twice_ and you still act like this?! Pay me back for my wingwoman services!’ 

Bow gently places a comforting hand on his girlfriend’s shoulder. ‘Calm down Glimmer. Catra clearly left for other reasons that can’t so easily be fixed. Even if it’s true, it won’t change things now.’   
  


Glimmer pouts solemnly, while Adora is still trying to process what they both said. 

‘Even so, I have to try at least.’ The blonde says with conviction.  
  


When Perfuma gets back from her post graduation Euro trip, Adora tells her the entire story. Perfuma listens, and after a lot of convincing she reluctantly hands over Scorpia’s address. But by the time she bangs on Scorpia’s door, she is too late.   
  


Catra had disappeared, once again. Her confession goes unsaid. 

\-------

Adora hadn't been able to answer her properly, back then when they were in high school. 

She had been so caught up in the euphoria of befriending Catra again, she had been ignorant to how the other girl had been feeling. She had always taken the brunette’s words at face value, instead of reading between the lines. If Glimmer was right, and Catra did like her back she would do anything to never hurt her again. 

Adora was now in her second year at Eternia University, studying politics like she had said she would. The first year passed by uneventfully, even though she did still do a double take every time she saw a mop of wild brunette hair in the crowd. 

She moved out of Angella’s house to room in the dorms later that same year. Although she was grateful for everything her adoptive mother did, she knew she had to make it out on her own instead of piggybacking off her wealth. And perhaps if she ever saw Catra again, she wouldn’t use their class difference as an excuse not to be with her. 

By coincidence, she bumps into Frosta on her way to her lectures. She hadn’t seen the other girl since she had handed her school captain badge to her.  
  


‘Adora! How have you been?’ The shorter girl asks as they move away from the crowd on campus. 

They agree to get coffee together to chat about their majors and catch up. She had an hour to kill before her next lecture so she might as well slot in her social life. They sit by a nice cozy spot near the window, and Frosta orders a cookie and a hot chocolate while Adora gets a caramel macchiato.   
  


‘Congrats on getting a full ride here by the way.’ Frosta says through bites. ‘Wouldn’t accept any less from our former school captain.’ 

‘No, I don’t deserve that.’ Adora waves her hand dismissively, she never really did like talking about the scholarship. ‘I mean you’re the youngest person to graduate in our school, it’s impressive you skipped that many grades.’ 

Frosta just spins the teaspoon in her hot chocolate bashfully. ‘Oh yeah speaking of, you still talk to anyone from high school?’

‘...Mostly everyone.’ Adora looks sadly into her coffee cup. ‘Everyone... except Catra.’   
  


‘Really? Well should’ve expected that, she always was the feisty loner type.’ Frosta replies. ‘You know I saw her working at Target the other day. Check-out chick and all. She didn’t even say hi to me, so rude.’ 

‘You what? _You saw her?!’_ Adora almost spills her coffee slamming the table with both of her hands. _‘Where!?_ ’ 

Frosta raises an eyebrow at the violent reaction. ‘Uh, at Target, like I said. The Elberon branch. Should be like 40 minutes from here in the other direction.’   
  


‘I’m so sorry Frosta, but I have to go now.’ Adora says frantically, rummaging through her purse and slamming down a $20 note on the table. ‘It’s on me!’ 

Frosta looks at her, bewildered. ‘But you didn’t even finish your coffee-’ 

‘I’ll text you!’ She shouts over her shoulder, breaking into a sprint and slamming the shop door open. ‘There’s something I absolutely must do!’ The younger girl just stares after her, watching her run outside the coffee shop.   
  


Adora races over to her car, looking up directions to Elberon and inputting it into her GPS. 

She hits the gas, screeching out of the campus car park and absolutely flooring it. The blonde is borderline speeding at this point, her heart pounding in her chest.

It’s been a year and a half since she’s seen Catra. 

She hopes things will be different this time. The world didn’t carelessly give out third chances. Adora had already blown it back when she was young and stupid, and perhaps she still was that, but no way was she hurting her again.   
  


Her heart falls when she doesn’t spot Catra anywhere. Well of course, she probably wasn’t on shift now. Adora waits around awkwardly, panicking. What if she had gotten the wrong store? Was there another Target in Elberon? Did Frosta see someone that just looked like Catra? Adora loiters around the store for another half hour, debating if she should just suck it up and ask a worker without looking creepy. 

She’s in the middle of texting Frosta when she hears the back door of the staff room open.   
  


‘Hey, where did you want this?’ 

That was Catra’s voice! Adora instinctively hides behind the toy aisle, hands over her mouth. Her heart thuds, hands shaking with nerves. She peers behind the shelf, still hiding cautiously.

Catra had cut her hair. It was cropped into a pixie cut, curled around her neck. Adora’s stomach swoops at the sight, she looked even more gorgeous than she remembered.   
  


She peeks at her from behind the toys, watching Catra in her now red uniform open up the register and count the till. A few shoppers start queueing up with their trolleys full of items, waiting for their purchases to be scanned.

Adora grabs the nearest plushie and holds it over her face, lining up behind a few customers. She didn’t know why she was acting so nervous, anxiously tapping her foot on the floor to the ire of the old lady in front of her. Her heart was racing in her chest, her pulse going a mile a minute.  
  


After what seemed like an eternity, she finally gets to the front. Her palms are sweating. 

Catra hadn’t looked up yet, still scanning the plush doll. Her eyes flicker upwards, and her face drops. She looks like she’s seen a ghost.

‘Hey Catra.’ Adora says sheepishly.   
  


Her old friend’s face drains of all colour, she’s white as a sheet. Her hands shake around the scanner. 

‘Uh, hey.’ Catra says, and she can’t meet her eye. She swallows. ‘How have you been?’

Adora brightens, thrilled that she was actually having a conversation with the other girl. It had been too long. ‘I’m fine now, that I get to see you again! I didn’t get to answer you properly back then and I’m so sorry-’ 

‘Good, good. So that’ll be $5.99.’ Catra replies back robotically, cutting off her rambling. ‘Card or cash?’   
  


‘Um.’ Disappointment sinks to the bottom of her stomach. She fumbles for her wallet, patting down the pockets in her jeans until she realized girls pants don't have pockets and _shoot_ she had left it in the car. 

The people behind her frown at her for holding up the line, annoyed that she hadn’t even brought money to buy her children’s toy.  
  


She starts sweating, laughing nervously. ‘Uh, I think I left my wallet in the car...’ 

‘I’m happy to hold on to that item for you at the back for you to collect.’ Catra responds, her customer service smile unwavering. 

Adora shakes her head. ‘Actually, I didn’t come here to buy this. I just needed to talk to you.’   
  


Catra’s eyes widen by just a fraction, then narrow. _Don’t make a scene,_ her expression says.

‘Uh, that is not necessary, if you aren’t going to make a purchase..’ 

  
She grabs Catra's wrist that was now trembling so badly that the brunette couldn't so much as shake her off. If she let go now, she might never get this chance again. 

‘I know I’m a couple years too late but-’

‘To please leave the store-’

‘ **_CATRA I’M IN LOVE WITH YOU!_ **’ Adora blurts, loud enough for the people in the next aisles to stop what they were doing to stare at her. The shoppers in line gape at the audacity. 

  
Catra’s jaw had dropped in shock, her entire face now matching the red of her uniform. The brunette’s furious blush reached all the way to her neck. Hope burned anew in her chest. 

A tan skinned woman with white hair, _Netossa_ , her name tag reads- appears behind Adora.

‘Dear customer, please refrain from bothering our staff members.’ 

‘Sorry but I really have to talk to her!’ Adora pleads, but Catra’s manager is unrelenting. She starts escorting her out despite her protests. Adora struggles but Netossa’s grip is firm.   
  


‘CATRA I’LL WAIT FOR YOU UNTIL YOUR SHIFT IS OVER!’ Adora calls over her shoulder. 

The other shoppers side eye each other and decide to head to the self serve checkout. Less drama. Catra’s assistant manager walks over, concerned. ‘Did you need me to call security?’ Spinnerella asks kindly.   
  


She shakes her head, embarrassed. ‘No, uh. That’s just my stalker, she follows me to every job I have.’

Netossa walks back over in time to hear that comment. ‘Dude, that’s kind of messed up.’

‘I wish my stalkers were that cute.’ Spinnerella grins. Netossa just glares at her. ‘I mean you are, dear.’   
  


Netossa sighs. ‘Hey, kitty. If you need to go patch up things with your ex, I’ll let you clock out just this once. But you owe me.’ 

Catra blushes. ‘She’s not my ex. Adora is...she was...’  
  
‘A sex friend?’

 _‘No!_ Uh, she was kinda-sort of, my enemy slash friend in highschool. It’s very complicated.’   
  


‘Oh my gosh, you guys are so pure.’ Spinnerella says, eyes shining. ‘Such passionate young love.’ Catra physically cringes at the insinuation. 

‘Oh, stop teasing her.’ Netossa chides. Her wife just giggles into her palm. ‘You can go to your ‘enemy slash friend’ now. Just tell us the tea afterwards.’ 

‘Thanks.’ Catra blurts out as she snatches the plush toy off the counter. ‘I’ll just be taking this.’   
  


‘That’s going off your paycheck, young lady!’ Netossa calls out to her receding figure. 

\----

‘Hey Adora.’ Catra says, looking down at the crouched figure outside the Target. Her old ‘friend’ looks up, and her whole face lights up like the sun. It had been so long since that look had been directed at her. Being away from Adora was like the world had lost its colours and sound. No matter what she did, with Adora or without, her heart always hurt. It was time to face her, head on. 

‘You really don’t give up, do you.’ Catra deadpans. 

‘Nope, cause I’m crazy for you.’ Adora replies, grinning. She does a little peace sign.

‘What the fuck.’

Adora just dazedly smiles at her. ‘It’s true. I would’ve waited forever for you.’   
  


Catra blushes again, bristling. ‘Idiot.’ She says, throwing the stuffed bear at her. ‘Here’s the dumb plushie you wanted.’

Adora catches it in awe. ‘Catra, you didn’t have to-’  
  


She rolls her eyes. ‘Whatever, I can afford it now. Plus employees get a 5% discount.’ 

‘Really?! I’m so glad!’

Catra frowns. ‘It’s only 5%.’

‘Not that, but you’re doing better now, right?’   
  


‘Uh yeah. Turns out Shadow Weaver was sitting on a pile of death insurance money that she never gave me.’ Catra’s lip curls, grinning at the memory. ‘As soon as I got to uni and learnt exactly how to take her down, I represented myself as my own lawyer and sued the shit out of her in court. It will be a great subject for my dissertation.’ 

‘That’s amazing.’ Adora says in awe. ‘You finally did it.’ 

‘I said what I said.’ 

‘Where did you go, after high school graduation? I looked for you everywhere.’ 

‘I crashed at Scorpia’s until I moved out.’

Adora bites her lip, jealousy clear on her face.  
  


Catra raises an eyebrow. ‘Don’t look like that. She’s dating Perfuma now, anyway.’ 

‘Oh thank god.’ She sighs in relief. ‘I would’ve really embarrassed myself out there if you weren’t single.’

‘You _did_ embarrass yourself.’ 

‘Wait, are you dating someone? Oh I should’ve expected that, since you’re so hot.’ 

‘What? No, you dummy!’ Catra smacks Adora’s forehead. ‘Guess some things never change about you.’   
  


‘Hey, let me come over.’ Adora wheedles. ‘I missed my lecture today because I wanted to meet you so bad.’

Catra hesitates, they both know how badly last time turned out. But Catra was different now. She was no longer at the bottom of society, she had her own apartment, she had a job, she no longer had to be ashamed. Maybe it was time to stop running. 

She nods. 

\-----

‘Wow this place is nice!’ Adora crows, admiring the now clean and minimalistic apartment. It was decorated with new furniture that didn’t look second hand. There was a full kitchen, two bedrooms and two bathrooms. ‘I live with 3 roommates now, so it’s definitely not as nice as this apartment!’   
  


_So she finally moved out of that mansion, huh?_ Catra thinks to herself. 

‘Thanks, it’s fully paid off. Shadow Weaver had a fat bank account that I liberated her from.’ Catra replies. ‘Abuse charges, court fees, pocketing the foster care welfare checks, taking insurance money, it all really adds up. I used most of it to help out the other foster kids though.’ 

Adora sidles up to her, beaming in admiration. ‘You’re the most amazing person I’ve ever met, you know that right?’ Suddenly she was close, too close. She can only hear their erratic breathing syncing within the confines of the apartment. 

‘I-um.’ Catra stutters. The blonde pins her to the wall, eyes shining brightly in the lowlights of the apartment. It mirrored the way Catra had done the same to her on that tree during graduation.   
  


‘I love you.’ Adora says, and she’s sincere. It makes Catra shrivel in embarrassment and her hands curl. ‘I love you. I love-’

‘Jeez, I get it!’ Catra cries out, if Adora whispers it any more into her ear she is going to explode. ‘How many more times are you gonna say it?’  
  


‘Until you believe me.’ Adora grins. ‘I’ve thought it so many times that I just have to let them all out now. How about you?’ 

_Dammit._ Even after all this time apart, the feelings came back in full force like they never left. Adora was always engraved into every corner of her scarred heart no matter how many times she tried to scrub her out. The words that she never got to say that night bubble back up to the surface.  
  


‘Of course I love you, idiot.’ Catra says, unbearably shy. ‘I always have.’ 

Adora lights up like a christmas tree, practically giddy from this confession. It makes Catra’s heart feel full. 

  
‘I loved you longer than that!’ Adora boasts, cockily pointing at her chest. 

‘What? No you didn’t.’ Catra couldn’t believe this. Not with the way Adora rejected her nearly two years ago. 

‘Uh, yes I did! Ever since we met.’ Adora argues. 

‘In high school?’   
  


‘No, since we were like, eight! Why the hell do you think I chased you around all these years? I was practically sexting you in our final year!’ Adora protests. 

‘Wha-’ All this information was new to her. _That long?_ ‘But, the kiss- you rejected me.’

‘No! I thought you hated me and wanted to hit me. I had no idea you liked me, even a little bit. You never said anything.’

Catra looked at her dumbly, Adora’s words seemed genuine. The blonde never was a mind reader, obviously taking Catra’s tsundere facade as her real feelings.   
  


‘Guess we’re both stupid then.’ Catra huffs out a laugh. They had both been running around in circles this whole time, each thinking that they were the ones doing the chasing. 

Adora smiles. ‘Let’s redo it then.’

‘Hm?’

‘We’ve already kissed twice, but let’s do it for real.’ Adora says, her voice low and husky. Catra’s pulse spikes again as the blonde cups her cheek. She places a shivering hand over the blonde’s wrist.   
  


‘Do it.’ Catra purrs back.

They finally kiss, and this time they were both sober. Catra and Adora both grin stupidly into it, dissolving into giggles before capturing each other's lips again and again.  
  


Adora had finally caught her, and she wasn’t letting go.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> phew finally finished! please leave a review :)


End file.
